[Ads-l] Earliest True Acronym

Fri Jan 26 18:13:02 UTC 2024

Is the "mmkay" pronunciation of "OK" an initialism?

Presumably.

JL

On Fri, Jan 26, 2024 at 12:11 PM Geoffrey Nathan <geoffnathan at wayne.edu>
wrote:

> Apologies—I'd forgotten that we make a distinction between
> initialisms and acronyms.
>
> Just for fun, however, how do we treat 'okey doke(y)'?
>
> Geoff
>
>
> Geoffrey S. Nathan
> WSU Information Privacy Officer (Retired)
> Emeritus Professor, Linguistics Program
> http://blogs.wayne.edu/proftech/
>
> geoffnathan at wayne.edu
>
> Nobody at Wayne State will EVER ask you for your password. Never send it
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> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM>
> Sent: Friday, January 26, 2024 11:09 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: Earliest True Acronym
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Earliest True Acronym
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> It's an initialism, not an acronym. It's pronounced as the separate
> letters "O" and "K", not as a monosyllabic word like the tree "oak".
>
> Jesse Sheidlower
>
> On Fri, Jan 26, 2024 at 04:06:01PM +0000, Geoffrey Nathan wrote:
> > While I don't want to start a fight here, isn't the proposed etymology
> > of OK as being from the abbreviation of 'Old Kinderhook' an example
> > of an early pronounced acronym? It dates to the 1830's.
> >
> >
> >
> > Geoffrey S. Nathan
> > WSU Information Privacy Officer (Retired)
> > Emeritus Professor, Linguistics Program
> > http://blogs.wayne.edu/proftech/
> >
> > geoffnathan at wayne.edu
> >
> > Nobody at Wayne State will EVER ask you for your password. Never send it
> to anyone in an email, no matter how authentic the email looks.
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> > Sent: Friday, January 26, 2024 7:59 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Subject: Earliest True Acronym
> >
> > [EXTERNAL]
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> > Subject:      Earliest True Acronym
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Shapir=
> > o, Fred <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> > Sent: Thursday, December 2, 2010 2:32 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Subject: Earliest Acronym
> >
> > I apologize if someone else has already pointed this out, but Bill's
> second=
> >  citation below is very significant in that it may establish the claim
> that=
> >  SCOTUS is the earliest known acronym in the English language (although,
> de=
> > pending on the precise definition of "acronym," there are some other
> abbrev=
> > iations in the 1879 Phillips Telegraphic Code that may be tied with
> SCOTUS =
> > for this honor).
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
> >
> >
> > ________________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Mullin=
> > s, Bill AMRDEC [Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL]
> > Sent: Monday, November 22, 2010 11:02 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: Antedating SCOTUS (UNCLASSIFIED)
> >
> > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > Caveats: NONE
> >
> >
> > Walter P. Phillips _The Phillips Telegraphic Code for the Rapid
> > Transmission by Telegraph_ Wash, DC:  Gibson Brothers, 1879.
> >
> >
> > p. 59 col 2:
> > "Pot -- President of the."
> >
> > p. 65 col 2:
> > "Scotus -- Supreme Court of the United States"
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Mullins, Bill AMRDEC
> > > Sent: Monday, November 22, 2010 9:27 AM
> > > To: 'American Dialect Society'
> > > Subject: Antedating SCOTUS (UNCLASSIFIED)
> > >
> > > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > > Caveats: NONE
> > >
> > > _Milwaukee [WI] Sentinel_ 12/6/1891, p 10 col 1 [Gale 19th Cent
> > newspapers]
> > >
> > > "For instance, the receiver's sounder will tick out the letters
> > "scotus."
> > > There is no meaning in this combination of letters, but the operator
> > gets a
> > > hustle upon himself as soon as he hears it and writes down, "the
> > Supreme court
> > > of the United states." "
> > >
> > > _Charlotte [NC] Observer_ 10/18/1892 p 1 col 4 [GenealogyBank]
> > >
> > > "The case then came to Scotus.  The case was argued last Tuesday."
> > >
> > >
> > > >
> > > > A slightly earlier cite is found at America's GenealogyBank.
> > > > 14 April 1895, _Birmingham(AL) Age-Herald_ 21/3
> > > >
> > > > Talking about the United Press "code" in use for about seven years
> > on the
> > > > telegraph-to-newspaper circuit.
> > > >
> > > > "In addition the more frequent phrases are skeletonized to the limit
> > of
> > > > safety.  "Scotus" is "supreme court of the United States;" "potus,"
> > > > "president of the United States;"
> > > >
> > > >
> > > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > > Caveats: NONE
> > >
> >
> > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > Caveats: NONE
> >
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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